Checking the Traps by Joan Livingston
Checking
the Traps
Isabel
Long is a bit banged up from her last case with a broken collarbone and her arm
in a sling. But that doesn’t stop her from pouring beer at the Rooster Bar or
taking her third case with Gary Beaumont, a local drug dealer who once
terrorized her. Gary is convinced his brother didn’t jump off a bridge known
for suicides. Somebody pushed him.
Gary’s
brother was a boozer who drove for a highway crew. But
what interests Isabel and her ‘Watson’ — her 93-year-old mother who lives with
her — is that the man wrote poetry.
The
chief suspects are one of Gary’s business associates and a famous poet who
plagiarized his brother’s poetry for an award-winning book. Yes, he was that
good.
As
a journalist, Isabel did regular meetups with her sources for stories. She called
it checking the traps. She does the same as a private investigator, and this
time, she’ll make sure she doesn’t get caught in one.
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Writing the
Isabel Long Series
By Joan Livingston
Writing
a series means that I can hold onto the characters I love but let them do
something else. Certainly, that’s the case for Isabel Long, the protagonist,
and for many others in my mystery series.
Checking the Traps, the third in the Isabel Long
Mystery Series, had an official launch March 22. The first two books are Chasing the Case and Redneck’s Revenge, which were published last
year by Crooked Cat Books. I’m nearing the halfway point for the fourth.
Isabel
was a longtime journalist who uses her transferable skills in her new life as a
private investigator in the hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. Each book
features a cold case she decides to solve. So far, a family member approached
Isabel to find out what happened to a loved one.
I
carry some of the characters from one book to the other. In the second book,
two bad boy drug-dealing brothers, Gary and Larry Beaumont, terrorized Isabel
although they did eventually make amends. Certainly, all is forgiven in Checking the Traps because Gary hires Isabel to find out how his half-brother —
a poetry-writing guy on a local highway crew —
died. Was it a suicide, as the cops say, or murder?
Among
the other characters I kept are: Jack, the owner of the Rooster bar and
Isabel’s love interest; her 93-year-old mother, Maria, who’s her Watson; the
Old Farts, a group of gossipy men stationed in the general store’s backroom;
and Annette and Marsha, two cousins who I will say are country tough.
I also created new ones like the big shot poet
who becomes a chief suspect and the people Isabel interviews for this case.
The
trick is to give continuity in a series without giving away too much about the
previous book or books. I feel a reader should be able to pick up one book and
feel it’s complete.
In
Checking the Traps,
Isabel has a souvenir from her second case — a broken collarbone from a car
crash. She wears a sling for the entire book. But that doesn’t stop her from
working part-time at the Rooster Bar or agreeing to take on Gary Beaumont’s
case.
Here’s
an excerpt:
It’s Friday night at the Rooster
Bar and Grille, and I’m behind the bar taking care of business with my one good
arm. The other is in a sling. A broken collarbone and a few badly bruised ribs
are souvenirs from my second case, that and the satisfaction I nailed the
bastard who ran my car off the road. I’m right-handed, and luckily, my injuries
are on my left side, so it’s a piece of cake, really, snapping the caps off
Buds with the opener mounted on the back of the counter. I only need one arm to
reach for beers in the cooler and drop empties into the carton below. I’m not
able to deliver food or clean tables, but then again, I have a very
understanding boss. You remember Jack Smith, don’t you?
Besides, my getup is a
conversation starter here at the town of Conwell’s only drinking establishment.
The Rooster’s True Blue Regulars, of course, are all aware of what happened two
weeks ago, but being nosy New Englanders, they prod me for details. They can’t
get enough of the story. I gladly accommodate them. They’re friendly guys and
good tippers.
“Isabel, how fast were you goin’
when Pete hit the back of your mother’s car?” one guy asks when I hand him his
beer.
“Last I looked it was eighty.”
“Damn. On that road? You and
Barbie were lucky you didn’t get yourselves killed.”
Uh, that might have been Pete
Woodrell’s intention when he tailed us in his pickup. His wife, Barbie, was
terrified and screaming beside me in the front seat. I didn’t blame her. I felt
like screaming, too, but I had to pay attention to the road.
Hold on a minute. I have a line
of customers stacking up. The dinner crowd has come and gone, or come and
stayed if they’re making a night of it. The kitchen is closed, and I hear
Carole, the cook, cleaning inside. The Back Door Men, tonight’s band, are
hauling their instruments and speakers through the side door. There’s a full
house tonight, which makes Jack, who owns the joint, one happy man.
Being the start of April, the
snowmobiles are gone because the snow is pretty much gone. We are in the thick
of mud season, at least on the back roads, so the Rooster’s floor is getting
awfully gritty. That’s okay. The Rooster is almost a shack in the woods, no
frills, except for the large-screen TVs for sports games mostly, the jukebox,
and thankfully, a clean women’s room. Jack told me he’s getting ready to spruce
up the bar’s interior with some fresh paint and a new toilet in the men’s room.
He couldn’t recall the last time the Rooster was painted, oh, maybe when he
first bought the place. As for the men’s room toilet, it’s probably an
original.
“What’ll it be tonight, Luke?” I
ask the guy in front of me as if I don’t know what he’ll order.
“Make it a Bud.”
I reach inside the cooler.
“You sure? We do have a fine
selection of beers on tap.”
He smiles to himself as he
reaches into his back pocket for his wallet. Most folks here pay cash for their
drinks and meals although Jack started taking credit cards years ago.
“You think the murder charges
will stick?” he asks.
I smile to myself, too.
“I sure as hell hope so.”
Author
Bio
Joan Livingston is the author of
novels for adult and young readers. Checking
the Traps, published by Crooked Cat Books, is the third in the mystery
series featuring Isabel Long, a longtime journalist who becomes an amateur P.I.
The first two are Chasing the Case
and Redneck’s Revenge.
An award-winning journalist, she
started as a reporter covering the hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. She was
an editor, columnist, and the managing editor of The Taos News, which won numerous state and national awards during
her tenure.
After eleven years in Northern New
Mexico, she returned to rural Western Massachusetts, which is the setting of
much of her adult fiction, including the Isabel Long mystery series.
Social
Media Links –
Twitter: @joanlivingston
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